Tuesday, October 26, 2010

What's Your All-Time Favorite Creepy Book or Movie?

In honor of my favorite holiday (Halloween) which perfectly complements my favorite season (aka football season *go Chiefs*), I want to know what books and movies creep you out like no other. The first horror book I read (at the tender age of seven) was Bram Stoker's Dracula. After that I devoured everything Stephen King, then moved on to Dean Koontz. Now I prefer some gothic or literary bent to my horror and recent faves include The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.






Movie wise, I'm an old-school girl and think it's hard to beat the original Halloween (or Rosemary's Baby). There was also the one popular while I was in the midst of my teen babysitting years that had the line "Have you checked the children?" I forget the movie, but babysitting was never the same after that movie! Michael Myers is actually an amazing character--when else has someone who said so little conveyed so much.



 The only recent movie that really creeped me out was a Korean horror film called A Tale of Two Sisters. 



What about you? What book or movie gave you chills and made you double-check the lock on the door before bed? Happy Halloween!

18 comments:

  1. Most novels by Stephen King gives me chills, though I cringed a few times while reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth, too. As far as movies, nothing has scared me as much as Paranormal Activity.

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  2. I don't know if I've actually read a scary novel (I'd be too scared to sleep). But my favorite scary movie is Halloween and Paranormal Activity.

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  3. Pam--I loved The Forest of Hands & Teeth (and The Dead-Tossed Waves).

    Pam and Lisa--It looks like I need to add Paranormal Activity to my Netflix list!

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  4. not a fan of creepy books or movies, and only Ghost Whisperer comes to mind for now. I stopped watching though. anyway, A Tale of Two Sisters is actually a Korean movie, lolol.

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  5. @Fi-chan Thanks for pointing that out--I just fixed it in the post. Your comment reminded me of The Sixth Sense for some reason, which was another one I liked. :)

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  6. Big Steve King's "The Mist" is the only book that has scared me in years. (Okay, decades) Couldn't tell you exactly why, but it did)

    A decade earlier I went to a mid-day screening of the first three "Friday the 13th" movies. (It was free if you came 'in costume') I learned that sexually active teens die gruesome deaths, mean teens die gruesome deaths and the weak and helpless teens die gruesome deaths. (None of which scared me) : )


    --Tom

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  7. Tom- The Mist was awesome! Friday the 13th didn't do much for me either. I don't even consider it in the same category as Halloween.

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  8. I'm sure there are more recent reads for me but I can't think of any right now, so the last book that I really remember scaring me was Pet Semetary. It was the first adult scary book I read and I'll never forget being twelve and home alone at night reading it. I was so scared I actually kept reading because I knew if I stopped before all the scary stuff was over I would have nightmares!

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  9. When I was a tween / teen it was Scream. Since watching the first one I've never been able to be in a garage by myself again. Garage's creep me out. Them and basements. Thank goodness I live in an apartment in south Florida and we don't have either.
    Is it sad that I make my hubby walk me to the bathroom at my parents house if it's nighttime and no lights are on? (There house is big, to my credit).

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  10. Valerie-I read that one so long ago, I barely remember it--though I definitely remember the movie Cujo by him scaring me.

    Nicole-that's not sad. I've made my hubby come with me to the basement in the middle of the night when I've heard a noise (I think it was after I watched A Tale of Two Sisters!) :)

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  11. Novels: IT by Stephen King. That goes double for the movie, actually.


    Movies: The Shinning. Halloween. Nightmare on Elm Street (Originals, not the craptastic remakes), and the Japanese version of The Ring. It is way scarier than the American version.

    Great post for this week!

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  12. Lacey-IT killed me because of the whole clown thing. Whoever decided clowns would be 'fun' for kids clearly never saw that movie.

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  13. Kristi, IT ruined clowns for me.
    Valerie, I don't think the scary ever stops in Pet Sematary! Lol!

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  14. I really need to check out A Tale of Two Sisters.

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  15. Lacey-let me know after you see it and I'll tell you something creepy that happened in our house the night we watched it.

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  16. Kristi--have you checked the children was I think from a movie called visiting hours. It was beyond scarey. I watched it at a slumber party when I was in 6th grade, didn't sleep a wink, and have hated the whole genre ever since. The few times I've made the mistake of watching scarey movies i've been freaked out and up all night--the cut for tv version of the shining, and even bad ones like pet cemetary which was a cinematic horror and yet still freaked me out. You know I don't do scarey anything... but enjoy a good ghost story that is more thoughtful/reflective/psychological than blood and guts scarey. In that vein, Her Fearful Symmetry was really good and so was The Little Stranger. The Little Stranger has a very victorian/gothic kind of feel to it and is more of a psychological thriller.

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  17. Kim--I remember trying to convince you to watch The Sixth Sense. :) I'll have to add The Little Stranger to my list--it definitely sounds like something I'd like. Maybe I'll pick it for book club?

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